Thanksgiving is almost here, and that means it’s time for turkey-themed fun! These 20+ easy activities are perfect for keeping kids busy, creative, and giggling while sneaking in a little learning too.
Turkey Activities That are a Gobbling Good Time!
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to bring a bit of extra fun and creativity into the classroom or at home. Kids love all things turkey-themed, and these activities make it easy to keep them engaged while sneaking in some learning, from fine motor skills to literacy and math.
Whether you’re looking for quick turkey crafts, no-prep games, or simple writing and STEM activities, this list of 20+ fun and easy turkey activities for kids has something for every age and skill level. These ideas are perfect for preschool, kindergarten, and elementary students, and they’ll make the Thanksgiving season even more memorable!
Table of Contents
- Turkey Activities That are a Gobbling Good Time!
- Bulletin Board & Classroom Decor Ideas
- Literacy, Writing & Reading Connections
- Math, Shapes & Number Sense
- STEM & Engineering Challenges
- Print-and-Go Games & Turkey Activities
- Turkey Fun Book
- Tips for Implementation & Adaptation
- Try These Helpful Resources!
- More Fall Activities for Kids
Bulletin Board & Classroom Decor Ideas
“Thankful Little Turkeys” Bulletin Board
This fun bulletin board allows you to display the names of your students with turkey cutouts. Use the wall to celebrate Thanksgiving, promote gratitude, or to rotate student work in November. It’s an easy way to build classroom community with individual student work or writing prompt displays.
Turkey Emoji Feelings Chart
Emotional regulation at this age is so important, so using a Feelings Check-in Chart can help students understand their feelings during the day. Have students mark how they are feeling so you can guide them as best as possible during the daily routines. This can help reduce meltdowns or frustration on particularly difficult days.
Kindness Turkey Challenge
This is a fun way to help kids practice gratitude and kindness all season long. Each time a student completes an act of kindness, they add a feather to the class turkey. Soon, your bulletin board will be filled with colorful feathers that showcase just how kind your students can be! To keep the excitement going, set a class goal, celebrate weekly acts of kindness, or let students share their favorite good deeds during morning meetings.
Literacy, Writing & Reading Connections
Turkey Poems & Activities
Provide students with an interactive Thanksgiving poem. As they read their poem, kids will fill in the blanks and cross off the words from the word bank. Encourage kids to illustrate the meaning to go a bit further.
Turkey-Themed Bookmarks & Reading Challenge Sheet
Encourage students to read as many Turkey-themed books during the month of November. Let them share their titles or track their individual reading goals. For a little extra encouragement, give students a seasonal bookmark to use as they read.
Turkey Disguise Project
Turkey Trouble is a classroom favorite! After reading, have students brainstorm clever ways to help their turkey stay off the Thanksgiving table. Then, they can design disguises or create their own from home using the included parent letter. To extend the fun, students can complete a “Wanted” sign, add a speech bubble to accompany their turkey disguise, and finish a creative writing prompt describing how their turkey escaped being dinner.
All About Turkeys Booklet
As students learn about turkeys, use this booklet to illustrate what they learn about turkeys, fun facts, and observations. The pages allow students to describe what they learn and write down what they find.
Turkey Comic
Kids will enjoy creating their own fun illustrations and writing out an original turkey comic. Model an adventure for a turkey and let kids design their comics. Show them how to use speech bubbles and work on first, next, then, and last in their story!
Additional Writing Prompts
If your kids love writing activities paired with drawings, these writing prompts are perfect for November. Have kids complete the prompts and add more details. Then, they draw a picture to match. These creations make for amazing artwork in the fall.
Parts of a Turkey Diagram
Kids will love labeling parts of the turkey using their cut and paste labels. It’s an easy way to introduce new vocabulary, celebrate Thanksgiving, and improve handwriting skills.
Turkey Life Cycle Shape Book Craft
Let kids draw the parts of the turkey life cycle on a booklet shaped like a turkey! They will read about the life cycle on each page, fill in missing words, and then illustrate the story. This makes for a great book to read again and again.
Directed Drawing of a Turkey
Lead students in a directed drawing before sending them off for Thanksgiving break. They follow the instructions to create their own little turkey. Pair it with a fun writing prompt or read aloud to extend the activity.
Math, Shapes & Number Sense
Shape Activity
Provide students with a variety of shapes and guide them in creating a unique turkey made only from shapes! After they make the turkey, have them record how many of each shape they used. This is a fun and simple geometry activity!
Turkey Number Sense Hat Craft
As students become familiar with numbers, use this hat craft idea to help them visualize numerals, tallies, ten frames, dice, fingers, cubes, and dominoes. Let them pick a number to create a hat for (1-10) and do a fun parade around the room to work on number sense.
STEM & Engineering Challenges
Turkey Trap Challenge
This activity is a hit after reading How to Catch a Turkey! Students use recyclable materials like tubes, boxes, paper, and tape to design and build a trap to catch a runaway turkey. Start by having them sketch their ideas on the planning sheet, then gather supplies and let them try it.
Encourage students to test their traps, see what works (and what doesn’t), and make changes along the way. This is a great way to introduce problem-solving and a growth mindset while keeping things fun and hands-on.
Turkey Getaway Zipline / Balloon Rocket
The balloon rocket is a fun way to combine science and engineering with a touch of silliness. Students design a creative “getaway ride” for their turkey, draw their design, and then test it using string, straws, balloons, or other simple materials to explore force and motion in action.
Afterward, they can reflect on how their design worked and what they’d change next time. To tie it all together, read The Great Turkey Race and compare how your class’s turkeys used speed and strategy to make their great escape!
Turkey Hideout Construction
This challenge invites kids to build the perfect secret hideaway for their turkey! Using blocks, cups, craft sticks, and any other classroom materials, students design and build a structure that keeps their turkey safe from being found. You can turn it into a mini STEM challenge by testing which hideouts are the most stable vs. collapsible, encouraging kids to rethink and rebuild their designs for the strongest (or sneakiest!) results.
Print-and-Go Games & Turkey Activities
Try these if you’re looking for simple activities to add to centers or Thanksgiving festivities.
Turkey I Spy is available in black and white. Students search for items on the page and color them in as they find them.
In the Roll & Color activity, students use dice to color sections of a turkey. They continue rolling and coloring until their entire turkey is filled. An easy game to play independently or with a partner.
The Turkey Race Graphing Game is a fun way to work with partners. Students take turns spinning and graphing. The first to complete a column wins!
Turkey Fun Book
Create a turkey fun book using the printable worksheets in this unit. There is a word search, color-by-number activities, a mystery picture, and more. The pages can be stapled together for kids to use independently or printed one by one for centers, fast finishers, or extra practice.
Tips for Implementation & Adaptation
The activities in the Turkey Fun Pack are easy to adapt for various ages and K-2 grade levels. Younger students can focus on simple drawings, labeling, and basic writing prompts, while older students can expand their projects with detailed paragraphs, measurements, or design modifications.
Each activity includes opportunities for differentiation and extension, from adding STEM challenges and writing reflections to connecting kindness lessons with social-emotional learning. Plus, the pack naturally aligns with writing, science, math, and SEL standards, making it a well-rounded way to mix Thanksgiving fun with meaningful learning.
Try These Helpful Resources!
Free Writing Prompts and Turkey Comic
Try the Turkey Comic and Writing Prompts in your classroom with this FREE printable resource! Work on literacy skills in a writer’s workshop or literacy centers. These prompts will help students expand their creativity.
Click the image below to grab a copy.
Turkey Fun Pack
Try the Turkey Fun Pack by Proud to be Primary. It includes everything you need to celebrate Thanksgiving and Turkey Day in November. Find math, literacy, writing, science, STEM, crafts, and more!
More Fall Activities for Kids
thanksgiving classroom activities and worksheets
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